Results

The Laplace operator detects edges between constant amplitude volumes (Figure 18). Applied to the synthetic test case, the Laplace operator delineates the discontinuity but only partially suppresses the plane waves (Figure 20). The wavelet along the discontinuity changes its polarity depending on the contrast of the adjacent plane waves. The somewhat lower amplitude of the Laplace operator among the horizontal plane wave is probably due to the exact zero of the horizontal component.

 

zeroFoltLap Figure 20 Laplace operator applied to synthetic test case. The Laplace operator slightly enhances the fault plane between the neighboring plane-wave volumes. However, the plane-wave oscillations lead to noticeable residuals in the plane-wave volumes.

Applied to the first seismic test case (Figure 21), the Laplace operator creates a discontinuity map that generally resembles the original seismic image. The wavefield-like character of the time slice remains. The fault marked R in the original image 8 is not enhanced: neither are any other faults. Applied to the image of the North Sea horst, the Laplace operator yields a similarly disappointing discontinuity map (not shown).

 

gulfFoltTotLap
Figure 21 Laplace operator applied to salt image. The Laplace operator does not change the character of the original seismic image. In particular, the discontinuity map fails to delineate the sought faults.